Page 183 of The Aurora Marelup Complete Saga Omnibus

By the time we get back to the house, Klaus is relaxed; Jayce almost has him laughing. Jayce never ceases to amaze me. He seems like he’s got the right answer for everything all the time, and I honestly don’t know how he does it. As a family, we are truly blessed to be able to count him as one of ours. Jayce’s mother comes out of the house and instantly wraps her arms around Klaus, holding him tightly to her, trying to soothe him. At this point, I’m not sure if it’s everyone else needing the comfort because of almost losing the baby or the fact that everyone feels horrible for the decision that Tiamat had to make.

~Later thatevening~

Tia is as happy as a little girl should be. I don't know what Arnulf did, but he brought back my happy little girl. I shall forever be grateful to him for whatever mystic powers he used to make Tia feel better. One by one, Elsa pulls all the adults aside to discuss the events of tonight. But no one dares to discuss the events anywhere near Tia. Even after all was said and done, Tia is now sitting on the porch holding baby Kirra. She is sitting in between the two bassinets that are holding her other two baby sisters. She doesn't understand why, but she doesn't want to move away from her little siblings.

Aurora comes out of the house bringing tubs of ice cream, followed by Dimitri, who has the bowls and silverware. Without Tiamat knowing, we are celebrating her heroism. We are celebrating that she took it upon herself to follow her sibling and make sure she was safe. The amount of ice that little girl summoned in such a short period of time absolutely amazes me. The ice is so thick, hard, and cold I believe she achieved permafrost.

I look up to Nicodeamus as he comes walking back from the spot in the woods. He and Dante are shoulder to shoulder deep in discussion. When he gets close enough, he opens his arm wide and kneels down. "Where is my favorite little angel?" He asks ever so gently. Tia's eyes light up as she slowly turns her head to look at her mama. Aurora gives Tia a knowing smile before she takes baby Kirra from her.

Once Tia is freed from her self-imposed responsibility, she runs to her grandfather and launches herself. She wraps herarms tightly around his neck and snuggles in close to him. "Yes, Papa?" she says ever so cheery.

Nicodeamus kisses her forehead and revels in the love and affection that his granddaughter is giving him. "One day, little one, you shall make a great and powerful queen. You bear the scales of your great-great-grandmother, the Blood Queen." He slides her over to the side so that he's able to hold her better on shifting her weight onto his hip.

"I just wanted to let you know that you make me so proud as the little girl you are becoming." Tia and Nicodeamus beam with pride as they look at each other. Slowly, frost creeps over the two of them, coating them both lightly. You can hear the soft rumblings of both of their dragons as they snuggle in the frost together. Nicodeamus’s love for his family knows no bounds. He and I both agree that we would have taken Tia's spot without hesitation if given the chance. We would carry the burden of the death long before she ever should. But now we carry an even bigger burden: the knowledge of knowing we had one of her memories altered.

Slowly, I walk over to my mate and pull her into a hug, careful of little Kirra in her arms. "I have to say, my love, we raise some really good kids." Aurora smiles and kisses my cheek gently.

"It's like my father has always said: we must lead by example and try to use our hearts more than our fists." Aurora smirks. "I'm still working on that part, to be perfectly honest with you," she says, then she purses her lips attempting to look innocent. The rest of us all start laughing hysterically at her statement. Aurora's a “hit first ask questions later” kind of person.

"It's been a group effort, love," I say gently as I sweep my hand out, motioning towards all of her other mates as well as our extended family. "Sometimes it takes a village to raise a child. Atthe rate we're going, we're going to need an army, maybe two," I say laughing, trying not to be too serious.

Dominik rolls his eyes and just starts shaking his head. "Typical dragon, not everything has to be done by force," Dominik says, crossing his arms over his chest staring at me. "My father ruled by force and fear, it did not endear him to anyone." He goes over and gives his brother a side hug. "He damaged the family more than I can ever express." Jayce sits there and nods along with what Dominik is saying. Then I see their brother, Alex, and his mate come walking up, agreeing with what they overheard.

Elsa moves until she is standing in the middle of all of us, and she smiles. "I am grateful for the family I've been given. I received more grandsons than I ever thought I would have." She moves closer to the bassinets as well as Tia and Ladon. "I've been blessed enough to see great-grandchildren be born. My heart and my life are full." She slowly starts to move around, giving each of us a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, to all of you, for enriching our lives and freeing our people. I don't just speak for myself, but I speak for everyone whose lives you have touched." Elsa lightly bows to us, smiles, and then walks away slowly. It's not often that she stays to speak much on subjects, but we all listen when she does talk.

Dimitri takes his time handing out the ice cream to everyone making sure to serve Tia and Ladon first and then the rest of us who are gathered. The sun is slowly setting behind us, and the evening sky is bathed in a cornucopia of colors. It's the perfect ending to a day that could have turned out to be one of the saddest on record. Tonight, I shall count my blessings, not only for the birth of my daughter who saved her sibling, but for the gift of the family I've been given.

CHAPTER 143

Nicodeamus

This afternoon’sevents were shocking, to say the least. Agnes was the last person I would have thought would have attempted to attack my family. I know sometimes with wolves, especially females, the loss of their mate can drive them to the brink of insanity. I also picked up on the fact that she was not pleased that my daughter was not a purebred Lycan like her son.

Even with all those facts put aside, I never thought it would be a female who would have tried to kill a baby. Pups are so rarely born these days amongst the different packs of wolves that they are cherished. This one lone, borderline-insane female almost succeeded in killing off her son’s first child.

If it hadn’t been for Tia being attached as she is to her siblings, we might never have found Kirra. One would never look that closely, especially at a grandparent when it comes to someone going missing. If it was several months ago and the threat from all sides was still real, she never would have even been thought of. I watch my daughter with her mates all snuggled up around the five children. Poor Aurora is still crying, feeling like she’s to blame for her child going missing.

Slowly and carefully, I approach my daughter and her mates and sit down nearby. “Little one,” I say, gently trying to rouse herfrom her grief. Slowly her eyes rise, and she looks at me, but no words are spoken.

“I know that you blame yourself for what happened, but you cannot do this to yourself.” I look down as Tia climbs into my lap. I wrap my arms around her to steady her on my leg. Softly, I place a kiss on her temple and just hug her to me.

“But Father, it is mine and Klaus’s job to watch over our child. Just as it’s mine and Dimitri’s, mine and Jayce’s and mine and Alaric’s.” She motions to each mate as she mentions their name. Each mate that has had a child, currently has a child sitting on their lap. Arnulf and Dominik are standing shoulder to shoulder, watching over everybody.

I lean down and whisper into Tia’s ear and tell her to go to one of her other daddies so that they don’t feel left out. Tia hops down quickly and runs over, and clings to Arnulf’s leg. “Can we go flying?” she asks as she looks up to Arnulf. A broad smile crosses his lips as he looks down at her.

“If that is what you desire, princess, then yes, we absolutely can. Just double check with your mommy and daddy and make sure it’s okay.” He smiles and bends down and lightly pats Tia on her butt, sending her over to Aurora and Alaric.

“Brother, you’re as much her father as I am,” Alaric says, looking at Arnulf. “If you wish to take her flying, then do so. Just please bring one of the guards with you to make sure she remains safe.” Alaric smiles and then looks down at Ladon.

“Son, would you like to go flying as well?” Ladon bounces up and down on his father’s lap, nodding his head profusely. He leaps up quickly and runs over to Arnulf, tugging on his hand.

“Can I go too, please?” Ladon pleads, smiling and beaming up at Arnulf, who now has the broadest smile I’ve ever seen on his face.

“Of course, young prince,” he says and does a light bow. Aurora is cracking up and shaking her head slowly.

“Oh please, not you too,” she says, laughing as she’s rocking Kirra. “Please don’t give them both an ego. I already have one big lug with a giant ego.” She pokes Alaric in the shoulder several times.

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